Rosberg issues apology to Hamilton, Mercedes and fans

Nico Rosberg has issued a statement apologising to Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes team and Formula One fans for the clash with his team-mate at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The contact between the Mercedes drivers happened on lap two of the race, puncturing Hamilton's left rear tyre and dropping him out of the race. Mercedes bosses Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe held a meeting with the drivers on Friday to discuss the incident, at which Rosberg took responsibility for the clash.

Aside from a team statement explaining the outcome of the meeting, Rosberg issued his own message to his fans.

"In the days since the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happened during the race and discussing it with the team," he said. "I have already expressed my regret about the incident but, after meeting with Toto, Paddy and Lewis today, I wish to go a step further and describe it as an error of judgement on my part.

"The number one rule for us as team-mates is that we must not collide but that is exactly what happened. For that error of judgement, I apologise to Lewis and the team. I also want to say sorry to the fans who were deprived of our battle for the lead in Belgium.

"Lewis and I have been given clear instructions about how we race each other. As drivers, we have a clear responsibility to the team, the fans of the sport, our partners and Mercedes-Benz to deliver clean racing. We take that responsibility very seriously.

"I look forward to concluding the season with hard, fair competition on and off track right up to the final lap of the season in Abu Dhabi."